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Just saw this on Yahoo:

A Green Lantern TV show is coming to HBO Max, a new streaming service from Warner Bros that will take on the likes of Netflix and Amazon. Strange Adventures, an anthology series exploring the antics of other DC superheroes, is also in development.

Variety reports that, though neither project has been commissioned to series, they have been given the greenlight to start producing. As seen with the recently cancelled Game of Thrones prequel, it’s not a given that either show will make it to air – but Warners likely sees both shows as strong exclusives to temp people away from some of the other best streaming services currently available.

Speaking about the upcoming projects, Greg Berlanti – who will act as a producer and has helped guide the success of several of The CW’s big shows, including Arrow and Riverdale – outlined: “Both of these original DC properties we’ll be creating for HBO Max will be unlike anything seen on television… in what promises to be our biggest DC show ever made, we will be going to space with a Green Lantern television series, but I can’t reveal any more about that just yet.”

Strange Adventures, meanwhile, will include characters from across the pages of DC’s comics in an anthology series spanning a series of one-hour episodes.

Warner Bros. also revealed at an event last night that HBO Max will launch in the US on May 2020 and will cost subscribers $14.99/month for a package that features shows from HBO, Adult Swim, CW, and more.

Why do these things always have to be on a streaming service?  It's not as if HBO doesn't have enough channels to run a new series or two.

George

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Ok, way back in Arrow season 1, episode 13- "Betrayal",  we had a character named "George Wolfman."  Now, the latest Flash (season 6, episode 4, "Dead Man Running") we had a character named "Marv Perez."  (Ralph Dibny mentioned him as an ex to DD.)   So, Marv Wolfman and George Perez (the team who brought us the comic book "Crisis on Infinite Earths") were name-dropped.   We also got Ted Kord mentioned in the same episode as having just done something- so Ted Kord is alive (in the comics, he's the Blue Beetle.) 

That got me curious about the first issue of CoIE, and who was in the first motley crew The Monitor (back then, exactly ONE Monitor in the multiverse)  assembled, and how many were introduced into the Arrowverse so far, even if we have to go across Earths and timelines to get them all.

Ok, those in the comic were: King Solovar, Dawnstar, Firebrand, Blue Beetle, Arion, Psycho-Pirate, Firestorm and Killer Frost, Psimon, Cyborg, Geo Force, Obsidian, Green Lantern (John Stewart), Dr Polaris,  Superman Earth-2,

Ok, let's go over who's appeared.  King Solovar of Gorilla City has definitely appeared in Gorilla City during the Gorilla Grodd stories on "Flash.   Dawnstar has not appeared- but the Legion of Super Heroes has, and her planet Starhaven has, both in "Supergirl."  Firebrand has not appeared.  Ted Kord/ Blue Beetle was just name-dropped on "Flash".  We know he's alive and a scientist, at least.  Arion has not appeared.  Psycho-Pirate appeared in "Elseworlds Part 2" and "Elseworlds Part 3"- he's in Arkham Asylum in Gotham City on Earth-1.   Firestorm of Earth-1 appeared in "Flash" and "Legends of Tomorrow" as a regular, but died...at least the Earth-1 version did, there might be others on other Earths. (Earth-2's "Deathstorm" is also dead.)  Killer Frost is a regular on "Flash".   Psimon has not appeared.  Cyborg/Victor Stone has not appeared in the Arrowverse-  but in "Smallville", he appeared, and "Smallville" is about to cross over in CoIE, so that counts.   Geo-Force has not appeared- but Markovia's earthquake technology appeared in Arrow, and was used in their "Undertaking" for the Glades.  Obsidian appeared in the JSA when the Legends of Tomorrow met them.  Elseworlds Part 2 implied that John Diggle's Earth-90 counterpart is named John Stewart and wears a (Green Lantern) ring (whereabouts unknown, most of Earth-90s inhabitants were killed.   Doctor Polaris does not appear.   we have Superman appear on "Supergirl", and there's more Supermen coming in the crossover. 

Checking if anyone else appeared in "Smallville" to help close the list, let's see,  Ted Kord appeared there.  Dawnstar appeared in a flashback to the Legion that Kara had.  Firebrand has not appeared.  Arion has not.  Psimon appeared in the comic book version, but not in the TV series of "Smallville."  John Stewart did not appear in the show, only the comic book.  Dr Polaris did not appear.

That's a considerable number of characters who were in the comic and have been introduced.   Mrs Wolf already speculated Ollie accidentally recruiting a multiversal team including Black Siren.

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BTW, my posting for the rest of the year might be somewhat erratic.  My internet has been going up and down (we're going to install a different provider within the week.)  I'm stepping out of town for about a week before Thanksgiving.   My PC may drop dead before it can be replaced (I hope to replace it in 2019.)   So, don't rush to assume I'm in the trunk of someone's car with duct tape over my mouth or something.

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39 minutes ago, GeorgeStGeorge said:

"Geo-Force has not appeared- but Markovia's earthquake technology appeared in Arrow, and was used in their "Undertaking" for the Glades."

Markovia is also prominently mentioned in Black Lightning.  We have not seen Geo-Force, but Markovia is apparently building an army of metas.

George

*checks*  Dr Helga Jace first appeared in the first episode I missed chronologically.  I had no idea she'd appeared.  In the comics, Dr Jace gave Terra and Geo-Force their powers.   (She was also one of the infiltrators in "Millenium" but I think everyone's trying to forget that except me.   You may remember one week with Dr Jace and a bunch of other, minor characters announcing "I'm a Manhunter." )

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The best part of "Millenium" was the giant poster which could be made by sticking all of the covers together.

And let's not forget the Lana Lang was ALSO one of those "Manhunters," tearing open Clark's shirt to reveal his Superman identity.

I haven't been TRYING to forget that, but it WAS a long time ago.

George

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I did forget LL was made one of their agents, aka a "manhunter" with all the others, like Laurel Kent from the Legion of Super Heroes' farm team.  (Wait- if Superman had no decendants, who is she?  *Laurel android explodes*  )

 

I was one of the few people who was reading "the New Guardians",  the series about the Millenium folk, mainly because I was interested in where the story was going to go when even the characters realized their primary mission was doomed to failure.      Ok, in "Millenium", the Guardians (of the Universe)  and the Zamarons (male and female from Maltus, respectively)  decided to jumpstart the next species to replace them, and went to Earth to do it.  With the entire population to choose from, their list of about a dozen included a dead villain (Terra),  a South African white supremacist,  and a plant being who was also in Arkham Asylum (Floronic Man.)    When they were done,  they had Harbinger (from CoIE), Jet (who was given identical powers to Harbinger, and nobody knew why),  Floro the plant being,  Betty or whoever who merged with the Earth,  and a gay man.  For people who were supposed to get a headstart on a new species of human, who had received extensive instructions from their instructors (one Guardian, one Zamaron),  even THEY admitted their small group was ill-equipped to have offspring- of all the males, only RAM was able to sire children (Extraño was technically capable but disinterested)  and only Gloss, Jet and Harbinger were capable of bearing children.   Then again, Tom Kalmaku ("Pieface")  was supposed to be in the group but initially refused, adding one more male.   I'm baffled why they thought the white supremacist was going to be a good choice,  or why the sociopathic dead criminal made the short list.    Floro was already genetically infertile,  and Betty was made so when they gave her powers and she merged with the Earth.     On paper, even "the New Guardians"  knew this didn't work, and were unsure how to proceed even with whatever they were told. 

So, I was curious where their story would go.   The answer, ultimately, was "nowhere." They fizzled out.   A few of them were quietly killed off here and there much later once they were supposedly forgotten. 

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Being an unabashed homophobe :biglaugh: I chose not to get "The New Guardians," as it featured gay characters prominently.  I don't get Batwoman, for the same reason.  I almost quit collecting Green Lantern, when it appeared that Kyle Rayner's gay friend was going to take over the mantle.  (Fortunately, that's not what really happened.)

Ironically, I'm probably one of the few people watching the Batwoman TV show, just to see how it will play into Crisis.

George

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If you're watching Batwoman, I highly doubt you have a "phobia."  I object to the casual misuse of words, even if others do not.  Disliking something is not a "phobia" any more than liking something is a "fetish".    Some people may misuse both words that way, but I do not (unless it's in jest, and exaggeration is a legitimate figure of speech.)  

So, "the New Guardians" sprang from "Millenium."  The cast from "Millenium" sounded like someone was trying to tick their way down some odd list, then handed the cast list off to the story's writer and said "Write this story."   I suspect the overt acknowledgement of their inability to carry out their appointed task was the writer's way of admitting he thought it was stupid, also.  That interested me MORE in the series, because the writer was aware of what was going on and was writing his story accordingly.   But, that's really all that can be said for either story.  

Marv Wolfman complained, over a decade after CoIE, that they may have set the bar too high.  Now, people were expecting a huge crossover in the Summer, and it wasn't mega enough if there wasn't a body count.    In fairness, some big crossovers worked, some did not.   "Atlantis Attacks" didn't work. "Operation Galactic Storm" DID work.  "JLApe" worked because DC doubled down on the cheese factor, and didn't pretend the story was serious.   "JL?" worked because they made it short and just involved the JLA cast's series, plus the framing issues at the beginning and end.   "Invasion!" worked- which was amazing, considering how much they crammed into it.   "Our World At War"  and "Panic in the Sky!" didn't garner more than token audiences, so if that's what they were aiming for, they succeeded.     

With the name to live up to, and all the hype they've generated, I hope the Arrowverse CoIE  lives up to its hype.    The possible problem is being unable to do so.  JK Rowling promised a lot for the end of the Harry Potter series, and foreshadowed a lot, and pulled a "read and find out" when asked about "the Prophecy" and its implications-  then failed to deliver.  (As phrased, it didn't come to pass, and she said she'd phrased it "extremely carefully and that's all I have to say on the subject!")  She also said not to trust anything that didn't come from the official sources of Warner, Bloomsbury, Schoolastic, or herself like her own website.  Then she wrote something on her website that she contradicted heavily in Book 7 ("What happens to a secret when the Secret-Keeper dies?"  Her own answer on her own website was the opposite of what she wrote in Book 7 when it happened.)   The movies where pretty good, but I felt the last 2 books didn't match up to her hype-  and, frankly, could NOT have done so.  Her mouth had written checks her writing ability couldn't cash.     Robert Jordan used to pull "Read And Find Out" on questions about his Wheel of Time series (not all questions, though). but he delivered on those by the end of his epic.

The comic "Identity Crisis" was hyped to the heavens when it was coming out. Renowned mystery writer etc was writing it.  And the miniseries failed as a good story AND failed as a mystery!    (The "thunk" just before the first murder was never addressed, until several years later when a different writer added something, and the Deathstroke fight was just insulting- starting with how Deathstroke moved a LOT faster than the Flash, who apparently chose to shove his chest onto a stationary sword.)  When I speculated on the solution, I used all the elements he'd introduced into the story, and only added a minor piece of tech to the entire thing.  Someone else had speculated early, and guessed the correct answer, based on it being the STUPIDEST possible way to resolve the story.     They followed that up with "Infinite Crisis",  which struck me as a mockery of the original CoIE, as if someone heard a description of the previous one, and decided that it didn't sound hard to do it again, then came out with "Infinite Crisis."   After that, I stopped giving DC the benefit of the doubt on anything.  This has saved me a lot of disappointment since then.

Considering how good "Invasion!" the comic was, I found the Arrowverse version a major letdown.   I'm cautious about whether or not to hope for the best for the new crossover.

 

 

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4 hours ago, WordWolf said:

If you're watching Batwoman, I highly doubt you have a "phobia."  I object to the casual misuse of words, even if others do not.  Disliking something is not a "phobia" any more than liking something is a "fetish".    Some people may misuse both words that way, but I do not (unless it's in jest, and exaggeration is a legitimate figure of speech.)  

Hence, the :biglaugh:

4 hours ago, WordWolf said:

 the Deathstroke fight was just insulting- starting with how Deathstroke moved a LOT faster than the Flash, who apparently chose to shove his chest onto a stationary sword.) 

 

I seem to recall that Deathstroke basically positioned himself so that Flash could only attack from one direction.  Still, highly unreasonable, since Flash can vibrate through matter and, hence, attack from ANY angle

 

4 hours ago, WordWolf said:

Considering how good "Invasion!" the comic was, I found the Arrowverse version a major letdown.   I'm cautious about whether or not to hope for the best for the new crossover.

 In all fairness, it costs a LOT less to produce a comic book than a TV show with all the special effects required for the super-hero genre.  I'm also cautious, but optimistically so.

George

 

 

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WW:  " the Deathstroke fight was just insulting- starting with how Deathstroke moved a LOT faster than the Flash, who apparently chose to shove his chest onto a stationary sword.)  "

G St G:

"I seem to recall that Deathstroke basically positioned himself so that Flash could only attack from one direction.  Still, highly unreasonable, since Flash can vibrate through matter and, hence, attack from ANY angle."

The problem there is just how fast the Flash was.  When he was LESS fast than that, we saw an issue where he was in a house where a bomb went off.  Shown from his perspective, we saw he had enough time to snarf up some food (he needed to fuel up back then),  collect up 2 normal speed people from inside the house, and deposit them onto the lawn outside before the explosion reached them and harmed them.     Simply put,  Deathstroke was effectively standing still when the Flash moved. The Flash had a LOT of time to see where he was going and what was going on.  Deathstroke somehow moved his sword ONCE FLASH STARTED MOVING.   BTW, if he can actually break the speed of sound like that without Flash-type powers, there should have been a sonic boom when he moved.   Anyway,  even if Deathstroke moved, say, at Mach 2 somehow, Flash would have had a lot of time to see that as he approached, and to react accordingly.  He would have had sufficient time to move out of the way once the sword touched his shirt.  And, as you said, he could simply vibrate through the sword.      

The fight also had the Atom forget he could adjust his mass, even slightly, and land immediately, after being pushed by a faint burst of energy.  (Amazing how Deathstroke developed the ability to effortlessly see things too small to be resolved by the human eye at that moment.)   Zatanna was able to speak, but lacked the focus to complete a one-syllable spell ("POTS!")   Black Canary was unable to strike Deathstroke at a distance- which is something her Canary Cry does all the time, at the speed of sound.   We saw JLA members, one after another, blunder their way through a fight,  followed by Ollie's claim that the JLA teaches you how to fight.  BTW, Hawkman is VERY focused. He can stop flying and continue a battle in free-fall, knowing he has to finish it before he can try to fly again, and has done so.  If his harness was damaged while he had a free hit, he would take his free hit and then fall.  Hawkman had his heavy mace in his hand- Deathstroke should have had that thing slam into his head.   Oh, Green Lantern!  Kyle Rayner, some time before this, had taken on the power of Ion.  Before giving it up, he upgraded his GL power ring.  Among the other modifications was to limit it so that it responded to him and nobody else. and he didn't have to wear it to use it.  He demonstrated by flinging it out a window and calling it back to his hand.  Some time later, Amon Sur stole Kyle's ring.  Kyle was able to spy on all his activities, using the ring to project an image of what Amon was doing while he wore it, and Amon was unable to control it at all, but Kyle controlled it on Amon's finger.   The exceptions to Kyle controlling that ring would either people sharing his DNA (like his descendants)  or Hal Jordan, who previously wore that very same ring (before Ganthet reshaped it) so he was sort-of "grandfathered" in.   When Deathstroke tried to control the ring, it should have ignored him.  BTW, Kyle, an anime fan, knows how to use the ring to make anime powered armor to fight in a close space while being protected.  

When that issue hit the stands, I did a panel-by-panel breakdown of that fight. Nearly every single panel had a technical error in it.    

I suspect the Flash problem was the writer's inability to grasp Wally's speed at the time.  Shortly before CoIE, Wally had retired.  He seemed to be moving slower, and using his speed seemed to be killing him.  At THAT point, Deathstroke was not much slower than him, reflex-wise.    After CoIE, Wally's speed had stabilized, and his new top speed was about Mach 1.     After THAT, his speed varied quite a bit, but was a LOT faster than Mach 1.    After THAT, Wally merged with the Speed Force and came back, and was even FASTER afterwards.   It was at THAT point that "Identity Crisis" happened.  Before the merging with the Speed Force was the incident with the explosion.  (Sometime before the merging, his connection to the Speed Force had improved- which is why he no longer had to eat large amounts when using his speed- he was now getting the energy from the Speed Force.)

If it had been me, I would have made sure the Flash and Green Lantern were nowhere near that fight. 

 

=====================

I think there's a mistake in promising "Invasion!" on a TV budget, since animation is probably the only way to manage events on that scale. They shouldn't have set themselves such a big target to hit.    So, don't blame me too much for expecting "Invasion" when that's what they intentionally promised.   I wasn't crushed, but I was hoping for a lot more than we got.

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  • 2 weeks later...
On ‎10‎/‎23‎/‎2019 at 12:41 PM, Raf said:

Impressed as hell with Arrow's episodes this season (8.1 and 8.2). The reveal at the end of episode 2 was mind-blowing, and I truly wish I had done my homework earlier because we all coulda and shoulda seen that coming. Talk about hiding a significant (if not major) character in plain sight!!!

When you first posted this, I thought, What?  Laila (that's how I spelled it in my brain) Diggle (I don't know if her last name was given, so I assumed she kept John's) is the Monitor's rat?  So what?

Then I FINALLY got it.  :doh:  LYLA MICHAELS is Harbinger.  Though not the way she was portrayed in the comic book CoIE

Harbinger.jpg

it wouldn't be the first time a traditionally white character has been reimagined as a black one.  (DC has been doing a lot of that, lately.)  Here's a shot of her in more Harbinger-y garb from Crisis promo shot:

Crisis-On-Infinite-Earths-Cast-Pariah.jp

(I know I'm going to hate myself for this, but who is Tom Cavanaugh supposed to be?)

George

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The Pariah casting makes a lot of sense.     The only character I don't recognize is the one next to Elongated Man (other side from Black Lightning.)   Is he a show-runner and not a character, or something?  

Ok, the guy in the extreme top left is Earth-29's Superman (from the "Supergirl" series.)  The guy at the bottom right (played by Brandon Routh)  is wearing the "Kingdom Come" Superman's  outfit.

 

BTW,  Lyla isn't a pale blonde, but the actress is Caucasian.

https://arrow.fandom.com/wiki/Audrey_Marie_Anderson

https://www.imdb.com/name/nm1017524/

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Audrey_Marie_Anderson

https://www.allmovie.com/artist/audrey-marie-anderson-p303013/other_appearances

https://www.fashionmodeldirectory.com/models/audrey_anderson/

Her "All Movie" featured photo shows her looking pretty pale, as does her Imdb page.  She has blue eyes.

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I love that an interracial relationship can be so normal that it is never discussed to the point that regular watchers with extremely pathetic eyesight don't even know they're interracial.

 

She is not only white, but SMOKING HOT.

 

Moving on: I have no idea who is between Elongated Man and Superman, as a character, but yeah, should be interesting.

 

Kudos to the CW for even DARING to tell this story.

I predict Tom Welling's Superman dies in the first 10 minutes.

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Not to make this thread about racial characteristics, but it's clear she wasn't from Africa any time recently.  One of my favorite waitresses has fairly light skin and blue-grey eyes, but she would identify herself as black.  I didn't know Megan Markle was biracial until it came up on an episode of Suits.  I would have guessed HER to be white.

Anyway, white, black, or somewhere in between, I agree that Audrey Anderson is SMOKING HOT.

George

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On 11/22/2019 at 5:30 PM, Raf said:

I love that an interracial relationship can be so normal that it is never discussed to the point that regular watchers with extremely pathetic eyesight don't even know they're interracial.

 

She is not only white, but SMOKING HOT.

 

Moving on: I have no idea who is between Elongated Man and Superman, as a character, but yeah, should be interesting.

 

Kudos to the CW for even DARING to tell this story.

I predict Tom Welling's Superman dies in the first 10 minutes.

Considering everything else, interracial relationships seem to be commented on little if ever in WB DC shows.  My one thought on, say, Barry and Iris was that Iris didn't look the same as the comic (same comment as Wally, obviously.)   I didn't see that as an issue for the relationship.  Didn't see a problem with Cisco dating Linda Park (Latino and Asian), and so on.  Didn't have a problem with the permutations in "Arrow' either.   As "Black Lightning" goes, Grace Choi in a relationship on TV made way more sense than in the comic.  In the comic, she was introduced as both bisexual and promiscuous.   One character found the promiscuity obnoxious and offensive (she REALLY got around off-camera, and apparently also identified a crime scene as having hosted an orgy almost upon arrival, etc.)  Later, we found out the other character and her got involved.  I don't buy it simply because I don't think it's believable to find someone's morals disgusting, then end up in a relationship with them.  (I didn't disbelieve any of her one-night-stands or whatever, since that was consistent with what we knew about her. I did note that it fell into the usual trap of equating bisexual with promiscuous, which I thought was lazy writing.)  In the show, she didn't seem to be promiscuous, so there was no obvious personality clash.

 

 

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